Katich backs Ponting and says criticism of his captaincy is unjustified

By Ed Jackson

December 12, 2009 — 12.00am

THANKS but no thanks. That's the response from Australian opener Simon Katich after former Test player Rodney Hogg said he should be the national team captain instead of Ricky Ponting.

Hogg slammed Ponting's captaincy earlier this week after the second Test draw with the West Indies, but while Katich is flattered to be thought of as a leader, he says he's 100 per cent behind Ponting.

Support for Ponting . . . Simon Katich.Credit:Getty Images

''It's a shock to hear that sort of stuff,'' Katich said yesterday.

''Ricky's obviously done a fantastic job and I'm just happy being back in the team. It's flattering to hear that sort of comment but at the same time I know what my role in the team is and that's to open the batting and hopefully be a senior player to help Ricky out. From that point of view [replacing Ponting], I don't buy into that at all.''

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He said criticism of Ponting was harsh and any failure to achieve a good result rests with the entire team, not just the captain.

''Whenever we don't win a Test match there's always speculation about why we didn't win and the captain always comes under so much more heat than anyone else,'' he said.

''We did everything we could the other day to try and win the Test match, it didn't work out. The West Indies deserve some credit for the way they played, they showed a lot of application.

''There's always some speculation about Ricky when the results don't go to plan but there's obviously 11 of us out there trying to help him out and win a game of cricket. It's up to all of us to get a bit better at that.''

Katich also backed opening partner Shane Watson to achieve his first Test hundred in the third Test, starting in Perth on Wednesday, after falling agonisingly short in Adelaide with a first-innings 96.

''He was obviously disappointed the other day not to get his hundred but it was a very good start for us, we had a good partnership and I'm sure that'll spur him on to get that first hundred next week,'' Katich said.

''I think we've had some good stands so far … 170-odd the other day, it would have been nice to double it up and go bigger, both of us get hundreds, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

''So far we've had some reasonable starts and hopefully we can keep building on that.''

Katich, who has had three opening partners - Matthew Hayden, Phillip Hughes and Watson - in the past year, said criticism of the all-rounder being used as an opener wasn't likely to go away despite his solid scores since coming in for Hughes during the Ashes series.

''It'll probably continue just because of his all-round ability and it is a tough job,'' Katich said.

''His workload is probably going to be the biggest issue with where he bats but that's up to the selectors and Ricky to decide.''

Katich said he hoped to add his own bowling option to Ponting's armoury in the future as he looks to recover from a minor shoulder tear.

''I have had a shoulder problem and it's been bugging me for the past month or so,'' he said.

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''I've seen to that in last couple of days so hopefully in the next few weeks it'll settle down and I can get back to being able to bowl a little bit.''